Yang pleads guilty to rape
Xuesong “Gary” Yang, who once worked as a recruiter of foreign students for the University of Illinois Springfield, has quietly pleaded guilty to raping a 17-year-old Chinese student. The guilty plea came yesterday in a proceeding before Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Leslie Graves. In addition to pleading guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse, Yang…
IPA president resigns
Dennis DeRossett, president and chief executive officer of the Illinois Press Association, has resigned. The resignation announced today by the press association comes after Illinois Times revealed that DeRossett had rigged a journalism contest, unilaterally reversing the decisions of judges (“Take This Plaque and Shove It,” April 27, 2017; “Contest-gate,” May 11, 2017). DeRossett alluded…
Golf, of course
Chicago Highlands’ 5th hole. Photo from Golf Advisor This week I wrote about golf, more specifically about golf courses in and around Illinois. Among them are Chicago Highlands in suburban Westchester and Chicago’s Harborside International. Also of interest is “Tee Time,” the two-page review of golf’s past in Springfield in Springfield Entertainment: A Pictorial History…
International Carillon Festival begins Sunday
The carillon in Washington Park is not only a familiar icon to Springfield residents, it is also known internationally as one of the world’s largest and best carillons. From June 4 to 9, renowned carillonists from The Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Michigan and Texas will be in Springfield for the 56th annual International Carillon Festival. Begun…
Frozen assets
“Everyone in Illinois,” says Bruce Rauner, “knows that property taxes are too high” compared to other states. Everyone in Illinois knows nothing of the sort. Mr. Rauner, for example, knows only that most Illinoisans believe that property taxes are too high compared to the value of services delivered. Or that they are too high compared…
What is worse than being poor?
These are hard times for America’s gold miners. They’re struggling to haul wealth out of the land while seeing their pay drop further and further down. Take Bob Mercer. He’s been a top miner for years, but last year (which has been described as somewhere between lackluster and catastrophic), even Bob was down. He pulled…
Why Rauner won’t stop talking about his property tax freeze
A new statewide poll finds that strong opposition to an income tax hike to solve the state’s budget problems significantly eases when the tax increase is coupled with a property tax freeze. That’s important because Gov. Bruce Rauner has insisted that he won’t approve any tax hikes or a budget without a four-year property tax…
Letters to the Editor 6/1/17
Y BLOCK IMPROVEMENTS The first thing that caught my eye when I opened up Illinois Times last week (“Park-ing problems,” James Krohe Jr., May 25) was the architectural rendering of the Y block plan submitted by John Shafer and Associates. It’s a good plan because it relates to the surrounding land uses well. It fills…
Editors Note 6/1/17
If you are like me and Trump and Rauner are about to get you down, it’s time to dig in the dirt and put some seeds in the ground. “When the world wearies and ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden,” is the quotation I have on my wall. It’s a little late for…
Talking to the other side
I’ve had a number of conversations recently that convince me our country is divided into two political camps separated by a deep and uncomfortably wide gap. No, I’m not talking about liberals and conservatives, or pro- and anti-Trump voters. I’m talking about people who believe in politics and our political system, and people who don’t.…
Hot music, cool drinks, tasty bites
Don’t miss the 13th annual Heritage Days Summerfest June 2-4. Enjoy live music, delicious food, cold drinks and family fun while supporting Little Flower School. A kids’ area will be available all three days of the festival, from 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Live music will be…
A new competition for our nation
As a precursor to the 56th annual International Carillon Competition, the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon is honored to host the first annual “open” carillon competition in the United States. This special event will take place June 2-3, from 6-9 p.m. nightly, and features two nights of carillon music from five European and American finalists who…
Sight for Thor eyes
I’m a 35-year-old masculine gay man. I’ve had relationships with (masculine) gay men, but I’m often attracted to masculine straight men. I’m not looking to “turn” them, and I’m ready for a relationship, so I’m concerned that I’m so frequently attracted to men who won’t be interested in me. What is this about? Do I…
Broken record
“How’s that working out for you?” That’s what Bruce Rauner, the 2014 Republican candidate, often asked in questioning why voters kept returning Democrats to run Springfield. Now he’s governor of a very troubled state and the same question may loom large over his reelection bid next year. Bruce Rauner ran for governor pledging to…
This new season is all over the place
The far-reaching 2017-2018 Sangamon Auditorium season will take audiences from Motown to mariachi and from murder mystery to Mummenschanz. It is the final season to be programmed by Bob Vaughn, who will retire in September after serving 11 years as auditorium director. Vaughn graduated with the first class of the Community Arts Management Program back…
New maestro
After a season-long search, Ken Lam has been announced as the new music director for the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, replacing Alastair Willis, who left the position vacant when he ended his contract early back in 2015. Lam was chosen unanimously by a combination of ISO’s board of directors, search committee and musicians and received high…
Springfield’s new marijuana store
A new local dispensary aims to service medical cannabis to patients suffering from various physical ailments. Maribis of Springfield (MOS), located at 2272 North Grand Ave. in Grandview, is one of two medical marijuana dispensaries in Sangamon County. The other, HCI Alternatives, is located in downtown Springfield. MOS is available to patients with medical cannabis…
Depp distracts from Dead Men
I was hoping that perhaps absence would make my heart grow fonder where Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films were concerned. After all, it’s been six years since On Stranger Tides, the last bloated entry in the series, clogged up multiplexes across the country, and I thought maybe it would be refreshing to see some…
LoG in to help out
Welcome to June of 2017. There’s a lot going on around here, so check out all the stuff in Illinois Times ads, the calendar, Pub Crawl and more. Then see if you can find the time to do it all. The big news on the music scene this weekend can be nothing but the Legacy…
Aileeah Colgan
Hailing from Peoria and recently signed to Green Show Records in East Peoria, Ms. Colgan is making waves in the regional music scene and heading for bigger things. She’s performed VIP pre-shows or opening slots for artists such as Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Shania Twain, RaeLynn, Rodney Atkins and Lee Greenwood. Aileeah grabbed first…
poem postal # 1
poem postal # 1 I can understand perfectly thosepostal folk, discovered years laterwith bathtubs full of undeliveredenvelopes it got too much hopelessthey couldn’t cope simply threw inthe towel now me I can fill a tub ina week with mail that arrives dailyhefty bundles needing rubber bandsevery heartbreak cause every franticpolitician plus bills ads events to…
When you wilt, have a wilted salad
It’s been a busy few weeks. For a while now my daily agenda has felt full to bursting on a regular basis, and I find myself yearning for a little TLC. The healthful surge of energy that accompanied the New Year began to fade about the same time that the flowers (and weeds!) started to…
Summer Arts Camp
The Garvey/Tubman Cultural Arts and Research Center recently announced its 2017 Summer Arts Camp.The camp strives to provide students the chance to explore visual communications, artistic collaborations and learn the wonders of making and creating sculptures. Running for 10 weeks from June 5 through Aug. 11, the camp will be held at Calvary Baptist Church, located on…
